Emergency situations require prompt notification of the particular situation to an appropriate responder (e.g. the police, fire department, ambulance, poison control, etc.). Typically during an emergency by dialing a special telephone number, such as 9-1-1, the caller is connected to an E9-1-1 Control office which typically relays the call to an appropriate destination to gather information from the caller, such as a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP).
A database called an Automatic Location Identification (ALI) database is generally associated with a PSAP. The ALI database is typically part of a database management system having a database server through which the ALI database is queried. The ALI database contains records that associate telephone numbers with names and locations. When a 9-1-1 call is made, the PSAP queries the ALI database for location and name information. The query contains the telephone number associated with the telephone that made the 9-1-1 call. The ALI database passes the name and location data back to the PSAP in response to the query.
Automatic Number Identification (ANI) is a switch feature that allows a 9-1-1 caller's telephone number to be delivered with the call and displayed at a PSAP. This feature is useful for identifying the caller and, if the caller cannot communicate, for callback. Using subscriber information stored by telephone companies based upon telephone number, the caller's name and address can be provided as part of Automatic Location Identification (ALI) databases. In particular, the PSAP, using ANI/ALI controllers, can query the ALI database using the caller's number provided by the ANI feature to ascertain name and address information. Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) and mapping applications provide the capability to pinpoint the caller's location on a map. CAD systems may also provide the nearest police car, ambulance, fire truck, etc. relative to the caller's location.
However, the service areas of many central offices do not correspond to the particular PSAP area of responsibility. For example, a municipal police department may geographically include an area outside the area served by the central office. Similarly, the municipal police department may encompass an area of responsibility that is less expansive than the area served by the central office. Thus, when a 9-1-1 call is answered by the first PSAP that receives the call, that PSAP will collect information from the caller. If that first PSAP does not serve the caller's area, the first PSAP has to transfer the call to another PSAP responsive to the 9-1-1 caller's area. There is no effective way to transfer a call from one PSAP to another while maintaining the information gathered from the 9-1-1 caller. Data gathered and keyed into the system by the original 9-1-1 dispatcher cannot be disseminated to the subsequent PSAPs and, with the exception of the caller's telephone number, the caller must unnecessarily repeat their information to the next PSAP contact.